Deal in Focus: Aksia launches Italian call centre platform

The dual acquisitions of call centres Contacta and Visiant Contact took place in early January this year, structured though a newco in which Italian GP Aksia Group holds a 55% stake. Marco Rayneri, an executive director at Aksia and one of the GP's two founding partners, told unquote" the post-merger group was valued in excess of €60m.

The new business will be rebranded in the coming weeks. Contacta was founded in Turin in 1996 and provides business outsourcing, inbound and outbound marketing and back-office services to a 50-strong client base including Enel and Lavazza. With headquarters in Vimercate, outside Milan, Visiant runs an almost identical business model and services Google and Sky, among others, from its 12 branches.

Accounting for €30m of the group's €115m projected revenues, Contacta was by far the smaller of the two; however, its role in the merger must not be underestimated, according to Rayneri: "Contacta is a very well run, efficient business. They have developed an incredible in-house software to manage the inbound and outbound calls, among other aspects."

Keen on exporting the system to a larger group, it was entrepreneur and Contacta owner Gabriele Moretti who proposed a merger to Visiant's shareholders. The businesses required an external financial player to support the merger and to that end, Aksia was approached by corporate finance adviser Fineurop.

A complex three-party negotiation process ensued between the GP and the two companies. It was agreed that Moretti would sell his Contacta stake and fully re-invest the resulting proceeds in the new group, while Visiant's owner, an investment holding, would commit 30% of its proceeds.

A decision was made not to inject any debt beyond the companies' existing facilities. With Askia picking up a 55% stake in the newco, the remaining 45% interest is now held by previous shareholders of both companies.

Europe-bound
According to Rayneri, the dual MBO is the first step of a strategy to turn Contacta and Visiant into an Italian call centre powerhouse. The combined businesses represent the third largest actor in the Italian call centre market; the expansion strategy will look to follow in the footsteps of current leader Comdata, which was acquired by Carlyle in December 2015. To that end, the group will expand by acquiring peers in its segment and Rayneri says talks will soon be underway with a number of potential bolt-on targets.

Should Aksia's Contacta and Visiant succeed in their build-up strategy, the GP plans to take the group Europe-wide by selling it to a larger private equity firm or corporate: "The Italian contact centre market remains fragmented, populated by smaller assets, which makes it harder for private equity to step in. Meanwhile, consolidation is also going on at the European level and the industry's appetite for the segment is increasing," says Rayneri.

According to the Aksia co-founder, the dual MBO represents the maiden deal for its fourth fund. Launched in 2014, seven years after its predecessor's €147m final close, Aksia Capital IV held a €108m first close in November 2014; the GP is currently working towards a final close in excess of €150m. The vehicle, which will back between seven and eight companies within the Italian lower mid-market, has already found a new deal, to be finalised in the next couple of months, Rayneri added.

People
Aksia Group – Marco Rayneri (partner).

Advisers
Equity – EY (Financial due diligence); Alix Partners (Commercial due diligence); Fineurop (Corporate finance); Studio Accinni Cartolano e Associati (Legal); Studio De Luca & Partners (Legal); Studio Russo De Rosa e Associati (Tax).

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